PEACH CAT plush toys: the banana duck and friends

What the fur is and what the fill is

The shell

The outside of a PEACH CAT plush is a short brushed fibre with a soft hand and a tight knit backing. Press it and the pile goes flat; let go and it comes back. That recovery is the whole reason we pay for the better fabric: a cheap plush fur holds the dent and the toy starts looking tired in a month.

The fill

Inside is high-quality PP cotton, blown in rather than packed by hand so the density stays even from the nose to the tail. We aim for squishy rather than firm. A plush that is stuffed hard photographs beautifully and is miserable to sleep on.

The details

Eyes, beaks and the little bowler hat on the banana chef duck are embroidered or sewn on, not glued. Nothing on a plush that goes to a small child should be able to come off in a hand.

The squeeze test

Before a stuffed animal leaves our sampling room somebody hugs it. If the fill shifts to one end, if a seam shows, if the shape does not come back, the pattern goes back to the table. It is not a scientific test and it catches more than any of the measurable ones.

Sizes, from a coat pocket to the whole couch

Palm-sized, under 8 inches

These are the plushies that travel. They go in a bag, a glovebox or a Christmas stocking, and they are the ones people buy four at a time to start a collection. Small does not mean simple: the palm-sized chicks and persimmons carry the same embroidery as the big ones.

Hugging size, 12 to 20 inches

The sweet spot. Big enough to hold with both arms, small enough to keep on a made bed without the bed disappearing. Most of our banana ducks and cat plushies live here, and it is the size we would pick for a first plush.

Body pillows, 24 to 51 inches

Long plush pillows are furniture as much as toys. A 51-inch long cat runs the length of a two-seater. People use them under a knee, along a back, or as the thing a teenager lies on to watch something on a laptop.

Reading a size before you buy

Our measurements are taken end to end along the longest line, with the plush lying flat and not stretched. A 19.7-inch duck is 19.7 inches from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet, which is a different number from how tall it looks when it sits.

The banana duck, and why it never leaves the pile

One sketch, a lot of beds

The banana duck plush was a drawing of a duck sitting in a banana peel, and we sewed it because it made the room laugh. It has been our most asked-for plushie ever since. The peel is a separate piece, so the duck comes out and goes back in, which is apparently the whole point for most owners.

The family it grew

There is now a chef duck in a bowler hat with a monocle, a pear duck, a chicken banana, a long banana duck pillow and a pile of colourways in white, yellow, pink and black. They are all the same body pattern at heart, which is why they stack so well together.

Why people buy two

A banana duck is a cute plush on a desk and a running joke in a friendship. We see the same order twice more often with this one than with anything else we make, usually one to keep and one to give away.

Where to start

If you have never held one, start at 11.8 inches. It is the size that fits a desk and a bed equally badly and gets used on both anyway.